The Belgian UFO Wave
Over five months, hundreds of Belgians, including police officers, reported large, silent, dark triangles with lights at the corners. The Belgian Air Force tracked radar targets and scrambled F-16s. The most famous photograph was later confessed as a hoax.
- Date
- 29 November 1989 – April 1990
- Place
- Eupen and the Belgian Ardennes, Belgium
- Witnesses
- Hundreds of civilians and police officers; Belgian Air Force radar operators
- Status
- Disputed
What happened
On the evening of 29 November 1989, two gendarmes near Eupen reported a huge dark triangle with three bright lights and a pulsing red one, hovering silently over a field. Dozens more reports came in that night from the same region. Sightings continued through the winter, peaking on the night of 30–31 March 1990, when ground radar tracked unusual returns, gendarmes reported lights in formation, and two F-16s were scrambled. The pilots briefly locked on to targets that then appeared to accelerate out of lock.
The object
Witnesses agreed on a flat, dark, triangular or trapezoidal shape, silent or humming, larger than a typical aircraft, with a white light at each corner and a red light at the centre. No occupants were reported.
Aftermath
The Belgian civilian group SOBEPS collected more than a thousand reports and worked openly with the Air Force, whose chief of operations, Colonel Wilfried De Brouwer, briefed the press. A photograph of a triangle taken at Petit-Rechain in April 1990 became the emblem of the wave and was studied for twenty years. In 2011 the man who took it said he had made it with a painted polystyrene model.
Explanations
The Air Force concluded that the radar lock-ons were consistent with atmospheric conditions and equipment artefacts and found no evidence of a hostile or unknown aircraft. Sceptics point to helicopters, aircraft seen at unusual angles, and the effect of intense media coverage on reporting rates. Supporters note the number and quality of the police witnesses. The wave remains disputed; the photograph is explained.
Sources
- Belgian UFO wave
- Leslie Kean, UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record (2010) Find on Amazon
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